the fourth book of the Bible. The English title is a translation of the Septuagint (Greek) title referring to the numbering of the tribes of Israel in chapters 1–4.

The book is basically the sacred history of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness following the departure from Sinai and before their occupation of Canaan, the Promised Land. It describes their sufferings and their numerous complaints against God. The people are depicted as faithless and rebellious, and God as one who provides for and sustains his people.

These accounts continue the story of God's promise that the Israelites will inhabit the land of Canaan. The story, begun in Genesis and continued in Exodus and Leviticus, does not reach its conclusion until Israel successfully occupies the Promised Land. As the books now stand, the promise is fulfilled in the Book of Joshua. Many scholars have thus maintained that the first six books of the Old Testament form a literary unit, of which Numbers is an integral part. At one time, Numbers may have contained an account of the occupation of Canaan that was dropped when the Tetrateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers) was joined to other historical books of the Old Testament.